Repair device



April 2, 1963 T. BEST REPAIR DEVICE Filed Jan. 10, 1961 IN VEN TOR.

,"illl United States Pat 3,033,597 REPAIR nnvrcn Filed Janu'li), 1951, Ser. No. 815768 4 Claims. (Cl. St -15.7)

This invention pertains to anarrangernent for repairing punctures in inflatable devices such as tubeless tires.

In particular the invention relates to a device for repairing tubeless tires without removing the same from the In the past attempts have been made toprovide arrangements for repairing tubeless tires but difliculties have been encountered which are overcome in the present invention.

In carrying out the invention a flanged plug is provided for insertion into the puncture from the outside 'of the tire in such a manner that the flange will engage the inner side of the tire cavity and the plug will fill the puncture to effectively seal the puncture against leakage of air.

In the preferred form of 'my invention there is provided a pneumatically operated ram gun forforcing the plug into the puncture of the tire.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a ram device for forcing a plug into a puncture hole of an inflatable device for effectively sealing the same.

It is another object of my invention to provide an arrangement for placin aflanged plug in a puncture of an inflatable device in such a manner that the'flange will engage the interior opening of the tire and the plug will be received only in the puncture hole.

It is still another object of my invention to provide a ram device having a restricted nozzle for compressing thestem 'of the rubber plug and forcing it into the puncture opening in a compressed condition whereby it will thereupon expand and entirely fill the opening.

Still other objects of my invention will appear in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section showing the rain gun;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the adapter and nozzle with the plug in place for firing;

FIG. 3 shows the gun in the fired position;

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the plug used with the gun;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section'of the plug taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an elevation of a molded plastic part for facilitating placing the plug in the puncture hole.

Referring now to the drawings, the gun comprises a handle 1 provided with a trigger 2 slidably received in opening 16 in handle 1. Trigger 2 is provided with flanges 17, 18, 19, and 20 formingwith the stem 21 a valve 4 which is held in the forward position in opening 16 by spring 3. The handle 1 is provided with an' opening 22 adapted to be connected to a source of compressed air or other gas. Opening 22 leads to passageway-23 which is connected to passageway 24 upon pressing trigger 2 to bring the portion 25 of stem 21 in such position as to connect passageways 23 and 24. O-rings 5 are provided between flanges 17 and 18 as well as between 19 and 2% to seal against leakage of air from the valve piston.

Trigger member 2 and valve piston 4 are retained in the handle of the gun by a retainer member 6. Attached to the handle is a cylinder 26 adapted to be fastened thereto by any suitable manner such as by bonding or by way of a screw member 7. A sealing member 8 may be provided if so desired. Attached to the other end of cylinder member 26 is an adapter 14 which is connected to the cylinder 26 by a suitable screw 27. A nozzle is attached by screw threads 23 to the front end of the adapter. This P nozzle is provided with a tapered portion 23 and a passageway 30. Slidably received within cylinder 26 is a piston member 11 provided with an O-ring sealing means 10. Piston rod 13 is attached to piston 11 by nut 9. Rod '13 is slidably received in passageway 31 of adapter 14. Piston rod 13 is provided at its forward end with a flanged nipple 32 for a purpose to be hereinafter more fully described. A spring 12 is placedinteri-orly of cylinder 26 and around piston rod 13 to hold it normally in a rearward position as shown in FIG. 1. The adapter 14- is provided at its rear end with a stop member 33- for limiting forward movement of piston 11 and likewise piston rod 13. The piston rod 13 is made of such length that when piston 11 is against stop 33 the-forward end 34- of the piston rod is'located adjacent the end 35 of adapter 14. The end 34 is'roun'ded so that it may protrude slightly beyond end 35 intotapered passageway 29. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the outer end of adapter'14 beyond the threaded portion is provided with a taper corresponding'with taper 19.

The plu referred to generally as 49 which is used with the gun to form'the subject matter of this invention is provided with a head 41 having a flange portion 42 and a stern portion 43. In the base 450i the stern portion there is provided a recess or opening 44 adaptedto releasably engage flanged nipple 32 on piston rod 13. -Recess 44 terminates in a recess of larger diameter in its most inwardly location in the stern, such diameter corresponding with the flange nipple 32. v

To facilitate inserting nozzle 15 into the puncture hole of the tire there is provided a molded plastic member 37 having a tapered portion 38 and a cylindrical portion 39 adapted to be received in passageway 30 of nozzle 15.

In the operation of the device, nozzle 15 is unscrewed from-adapter 14 and plug 4i is placed into adapter 14.

Stem 43 of plug 49 is of slightly less diameter than the diameter 31 of adapter 14. The tip 36 of nozzle 15 is pressed against the head 41 of'plug 49 and forces the plug into the adapter until recess 44 engages flanged nipple 32 of piston 13, and base 45 of stem 43'seats against face 34 of rod 13. When the plug is so placed in the adapter recess the flange 42 is inverted and faces forwardly as shown in H6. 2. Nozzle 15 is then attached to adapter '14.

Plastic member 37 is inserted into the opening 39 at tip 36 of nozzle 15. When the puncture is to be repaired it is first reamed outin the usual manner and cement applied into the hole by'means of a reamer or in some other manner well known in the art. Thereupon nozzle 15 is pushed into the puncture opening so that tip 36 is interiorly of the tire casing. TriggerZis then moved to permit air under pressure to pass through the pas sageways 23 and 24 to force piston 11 forwardly together with rod 13 to force plug 40 through passageway 30 of nozzle 15. Ram 13 continues until the for- Wardportion 34 thereof is located slightly beyond the end 35 of adapterl4 at which time the outer portion of the rubber stem43 which surrounds nipple 32 engages sloping portion 29 ofnozzlelS and restrains' the rear portion of stem 43. Plug 40 is compressed in passageway 33 and the momentum given'to the plug by the forward motion-of the rod carries it'forwar-dly until the edge of rim i2 emerges from the tip 36 of the nozzle. The rim 42 thereupon umbrellas outwardly until only the head 41 and flange 42 have emerged from the end 36 of the nozzle 15.

The dimensions and mass of the material in the plug are coordinated with the diameter and length of nozzle 15 and passageway 39 thereof to provide the following action. Upon firing the gun there is first a compression force on the plug to force it into passageway 39. Momentum is built up as the piston and plug move forwardly to a point where the rear end of the plug is confined in the sloping passageway 29 as shown-in FIG. 3, thereby arresting the forward motion of the rearward portion elongated, such elongation taking place after its initial compression and during its forward motion.

It has been found that plugs of different lengths and diameters will function with the same nozzle as long as the mass of the plug remains substantially the same. For instance, a short plug of relatively large diameter will give equally satisfactory results as a somewhat longer plug of less diameter. 7

' Upon release of trigger 2 the air is vented and spring 12 retracts piston 11 to its position in FIG. 1. A withdrawing force is then exerted upon the gun to withdraw nozzle 15 from the puncture hole. The interior of flange 32 is thereby drawn into engagement with the interior of the tire and as the nozzle 15 is withdrawn from the tire the plug stem 43 expands and entirely fills the cavity of the pucture hole.

It may be noted that the nozzle 15 must be of sufficient length to extend into the interior of the tire. Otherwise its length is not critical except as being coordinated with the other parts as hereinbefore described to provide an arrangement whereby only the head 41 and the flange 43 extend from the end 36 of the nozzle upon firing of the gun.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and Scope of this invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for repairing inflatable articles comprising a cylindrical member for receiving a flexible repair plug having an elongated stem, a flange at its forward end and a recess at its rearward end, said cylindrical 7 member having a bore with an inwardly tapered portion of smaller diameter than said piston rod for releasably engaging said recess in said plug and coacting with said tapered portion at the forward position of said piston rod to restrain the rear end of said plug, the length of the bore of said nozzle portion being substantially the same as the unrestrained portion of the stem of said plug when forced into said nozzle portion so that when the plug is forced into said nozzle portion with its rearward end restrained, the flange thereof umbrellas outwardly into engagement with the end of said nozzle.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 and further including means for stopping forward movement of said piston rod when the rear end of said plug is restrained.

having a bore of smaller diameter than said stem for 3. A repair device for inserting in puncture holes of tires or the like a plug having a flexible stem of relatively larger diameter than the puncture hole into which it is to be inserted, a flexible foldable head at one end of the stem of a larger diameter than the stem'and an opening at the other end of the stem, comprising a cylindrical member having a bore slightly larger in diameter than said stem for receiving said plug with the flange folded forwardly, said bore in said cylindrical member having a tapered portion and a nozzle portion with a bore of smaller diameter than said stem for insertion in said puncture hole, a piston rod operatively associated with said cylindrical member for forcing said plug into said nozzle portion and having a projection for insertion in the opening in said plug and for coacting with said tapered portion to restrain the rear end of said plug, the length of the bore of said nozzle portion being substantially the same as the unrestrained portion of the stem of said plug when forced into said nozzle portion so that when the plug is forced into the nozzle portion by the piston rod to where the projection coacts with said tapered portion to restrain the rear of said stem, the

flange umbrellas outwardly into engagement with the end of said nozzle.

4. A device for repairing inflatable articles comprising a cylindricalmember for receiving a flexible repair plug 3 having an elongated stem, a'flange at its forward end and 'a recess at its rearward end which is enlarged inwardlyv of the end of said stern, said cylindrical member having a bore with a tapered portion and a nozzle portion insertion into a puncture in said inflatable article, the bore of said cylindrical member being slightly larger in diameter than said stem for receiving said plug with the flange portion folded forwardly, a piston rod substantially the same diameter as said bore in said cylindrical member and received therein for forcing said plug through said tapered portion to compress the same into the bore of said nozzle portion, a flanged projection on said piston rod of smaller diameter than said piston rod for releasably engaging said recess in said plug and for coacting with said taperedportion at the forward position of said piston rod to restrain the rear end'of said plug, means for stopping forward movement of said piston rod when the rear end of said plug is restrained, the length of the bore of said nozzle portion being substantially the same as the unrestrained portion of the stem of said plug when forced into said nozzle portion so that when the plug is forced into said nozzle portion with its rearward end restrained, the flange thereof umbrellas outwardly into engagement with the end of said nozzle.

References fired in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 566,562 Cox Aug. 25, 1896 864,226 Blodgett Aug. 27, 1907 1,025,203 Parks May 7, 1912 1,332,412 Ranney Mar. 2, 1920 1,348,005 Hirst July 27, 1920 2,095,931 Kraft Oct. 12,1937 2,801,684 Salsbury Aug. 6, 1957 2,966,190 Nowotny Dec. 27, 19.60 2,990,736 Crandall July 4, 1961 

1. A DEVICE FOR REPAIRING INFLATABLE ARTICLES COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL MEMBER FOR RECEIVING A FLEXIBLE REPAIR PLUG HAVING AN ELONGATED STEM, A FLANGE AT ITS FORWARD END AND A RECESS AT ITS REARWARD END, SAID CYLINDRICAL MEMBER HAVING A BORE WITH AN INWARDLY TAPERED PORTION AND A NOZZLE PORTION EXTENDING FROM SAID TAPERED PORTION AND HAVING A BORE OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN SAID STEM FOR INSERTION INTO A PUNCTURE IN SAID INFLATABLE ARTICLE, SAID BORE IN THE CYLINDRICAL MEMBER BEING SLIGHTLY LARGER IN DIAMETER THAN SAID STEM FOR RECEIVING SAID PLUG WITH THE FLANGE PORTION FOLDED FORWARDLY, A PISTON ROD SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME DIAMETER AS SAID CYLINDRICAL MEMBER AND RECEIVED THEREIN FOR FORCING SAID PLUG THROUGH SAID TAPERED PORTION TO COMPRESS THE SAME INTO THE BORE OF SAID NOZZLE PORTION, A PROJECTION ON SAID PISTON ROD OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN SAID PISTON ROD FOR RELEASABLY ENGAGING SAID RECESS IN SAID PLUG AND COACTING WITH SAID TAPERED PORTION AT THE FORWARD POSITION OF SAID PISTON ROD TO RESTRAIN THE REAR END OF SAID PLUG, THE LENGTH OF THE BORE OF SAID NOZZLE PORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME AS THE UNRESTRAINED PORTION OF THE STEM OF SAID PLUG WHEN FORCED INTO SAID NOZZLE PORTION SO THAT WHEN THE PLUG IS FORCED INTO SAID NOZZLE PORTION WITH ITS REARWARD END RESTRAINED, THE FLANGE THEREOF UMBRELLAS OUTWARDLY INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE END OF SAID NOZZLE. 